


The Rook and The Knight

by RealistTash



Series: Horse and Chariot [1]
Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-11
Updated: 2019-02-11
Packaged: 2019-10-26 13:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17746577
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RealistTash/pseuds/RealistTash
Summary: Penelope and Hope bond over bitchy banter, chess analogies, and helping Josie.A small one shot about how my new brotp connect.





	The Rook and The Knight

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am, falling in to this rabbit hole.
> 
> Fuck.

Penelope watches from a distance. 

She watches Josie laugh at something MG says, watches Lizzie roll her eyes in annoyance that the attention isn't on her, watches as Rafael and his brother, the one with the messy, curly hair that she doesn't care to learn the name of, joke around with Caleb, watches as Lizzie huffs before she throws herself into the conversation and Josie mimics her actions of rolling her eyes.

Smirks.

The game pieces are finally finding their place, a chess board just waiting to be set up to play, novice players realising that the queen is in fact not the most important piece on the board. 

Because the game doesn't end if the queen gets taken away. 

Lizzie is a sacrifice Penelope is willing to make. 

A body slumps down next to her and she sneers at the fact she no longer has solitude. “What do you want?”

Hope raises her brow, “is that any way to greet your Nick Fury?”

Penelope groans, “nerd.” Hope grins. “What's up?”

A shrug, “nothing. You just seem extra broody tonight.” 

“Not brooding, simply... observing.” 

“You know playing games isn't going to get her back, right?” Hope nods in the direction of the group. 

Penelope purses her lips, “isn't that what we're all doing? Playing games? You want to go out and play hero, Raf is playing Alpha, Lizzie is playing MG, MG wants to play with fire, Josie is just playing, fucking... life, your boy-”

“Landon.”

“Landon is playing some weird form of tetris, figuring out how he fits in, and Caleb is playing,” she laughs to herself, “well, anything that involves being reckless and seeing if he can get away with it.” 

Hope hums, “and what's your game?”

“Chess,” she states, simple and to the point before she moves over the group, starting with Rafael and MG, “the pawns.” Then Landon and Caleb, “the bishops I don't really need.” 

“I'm guessing Lizzie is the queen?”

She nods, “the queen thinks she can do whatever she wants without consequence because she has the power to move in any direction she likes, but she flees when feeling attacked.”

“Which means Josie is the king,” Hope confirms. 

“People think chess is about protecting the king, but it's not. Eventually, the king is going to have to fight, no matter how you play it. The king is the only piece capable of ending the game, win or lose. The king is the one that forces you to play the pieces in a strategic way. The king...” Josie. “The king is a lot more powerful than people realise.” 

Penelope swallows thickly so Hope nudges her shoulder playfully, “so I'm the knight then?”

Hope is taken back by the loud scoff Penelope sends her. “Absolutely not. No. You are definitely the rook. Doing all the work unnoticed from the sidelines, only coming into the centre when it's necessary. No, I'm the knight. I play differently from the rest. The rest can move up, down, left, right, diagonal, whichever, but nothing can move the way I do, I'm not afraid of jumping over others to get where I need to be, and I hate,” she glares at Hope, “hate, being backed into a corner.” 

“Never pegged you for one to be so interested in chess.” 

“It's a long game, and if you do it right, it's worth it.” 

It's quiet as Hope takes in the words, “everything you do is tactical.” Penelope shrugs. “Must be tiring.” 

She watches over the group once more, Josie ignoring Lizzie's attempts at attention seeking. “Not when you're winning.” Penelope blinks herself away and smirks at Hope. “What about this little love triangle that you've managed to get yourself involved in, huh? Who are we rooting for? The awkward outcast or,” she lowers her tone to a sultry whisper, “the big, bad wolf?”

“What?”

Penelope blinks again, her brow furrowing with a teasing glint, “don't tell me you don't see it? Raf is one lust-filled howl away from humping your leg.” 

“What?” Hope repeats her question in even more bewilderment if that's possible and Penelope chuckles.

“Whatever, as long as he keeps his paws away from my girl I don't care.” 

Hope shakes her head, “I think you lost the right to call her that when you broke up with her.” 

Penelope copies the motion, “you don't get it, do you? She'll always be my girl, Hope, even if she hates me. Just like I'll always be hers.” 

As if on cue, Josie looks their way, frowns in confusion when she spots the two of them together and huffs and storms away after Penelope winks at her and sends her a kiss. “Maybe you should start by, I don't know, not being a dick?”

“Oh the snark! That's my favourite tribrid.” She pulls out a joint and lights it. “Want some?”

“Depends,” Hope replies warily, “does it have your dodgy sex herbs in it?”

Penelope clutches her chest in offence, “not with you.” 

There isn't too much consideration from Hope, a quick look between the offering and Penelope is the only thing she needs to make up her mind before she shrugs and makes a grab for it. “Fuck it, why not?”

-

“What were you doing with Hope yesterday?” 

Josie walks up to her, face settled in that perfect mix of resentment, anger, and bafflement that Penelope has come to expect since the kiss-that-can't-be-mentioned. “Hey, JoJo. What's wrong? Jealous?”

“Oh please,” Josie scoffs, “Hope has better standards than that.” 

Penelope tilts her head, “better standards than you, you mean?”

“That's not- you know what- don't put words in my mouth.”

“Oh, honey, you did that yourself.” She leans down, grazes Josie's ear with her lips, “but I could think of something better to put in there.” 

Josie sags slightly and it's enough for Penelope to hold onto her hips and step forward. “Pen,” she warns, pulls back but doesn't pull away.

“Careful,” Penelope whispers, “kind of looks like you want to kiss me again.” 

“You kissed me first.” 

She pretend to be shocked, “did I? You know how awful my memory is, JoJo,” they both know it's a lie, “think you could remind me?” 

“Why do you keep doing this to me?”

“You know why,” she fires back. 

Josie sighs, and Penelope already knows what's coming before she even opens her mouth to speak. “I still hate you.” 

It sounds less convincing than last time, but the kiss that follows it is so much more. 

And it should surprise Penelope, honestly, that Josie is the one to manoeuvrer them until Penelope's back hits a wall, but in a way it also doesn't surprise her, because Josie has been on the brink of snapping for a while, just begging to take charge of a situation and going after what she wants regardless of how it will affect others.

Regardless of how it will affect Lizzie, to be specific. 

It's not Penelope's endgame, but it sure as hell is a vital stepping stone. 

The point proven as such, when she hears Lizzie's voice calling out for Josie and Josie pulls away like she's been burnt, panting and rubbing at her lips, eyes wide and shocked. “Don't go,” Penelope pleads. 

“I-” Josie grits her teeth as Lizzie shouts out for her again, not saying another word as she spins on her heel and follows the direction of the voice.

Two seconds later she hears manic laughter and turns to glare at Hope as she reveals herself and gestures at Penelope's position. “I thought you hated being backed into a corner.”

Penelope snarls as she shoves her way past, waits until she's a safe distance away and murmurs a spell over her shoulder, takes a lot of satisfaction in the way Hope shrieks her name as she's suddenly covered head to toe in freezing cold water before she turns and points at her, “you deserved that.”

-

“So,” Hope starts as she sits next to Penelope, having obviously followed her after retrieving a warm throw to wrap around her wet body, “I get it now. Everything you do to rile her up, to make her react, it's to make her independent, make her stand up for herself. I tried to tell her something similar once.” 

“She won't listen if all you do is say the words to her.” 

Hope hums, “is that why you broke up with her? To give her something to go after? To get her to act on what she wants?” 

Penelope plays with a loose thread on the side of the couch she's on, “she wouldn't hear me when we were together. She'd nod along in all the right places, tell me I was overreacting, that Lizzie wasn't doing what I said she was doing. She couldn't see because Lizzie makes her blind. What I'm doing now, I couldn't do that when we were together, she would hate me, and there'd be no way I could fix it when she realises I'm doing it for her. So if I have to be seen as the villain for a while, that's what I'll be.” 

“For what it's worth, I think you're slowly getting there. That kiss was something else.”

“Perv.”

Hope gapes, “I was reading, it's not my fault you couldn't control yourselves.” She shifts in place, brings her legs up to tuck under her as she looks Penelope over, truly looks her over, sees the longing in her eyes and makes a decision. “I want to help.” 

“Help with what?”

“Josie. I care about her a lot, and Lizzie is toxic for her at the minute, and like, I don't want to bring Lizzie's world down like you do, but I do want to help Josie become who she's meant to be.”

Penelope waits a moment, contemplates, and grins, “the rook and the knight. What could go wrong?”

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think.


End file.
